Recycle~ Tee Shirt Dishcloths

How to Turn a Tee Shirt Into a Dishcloth

Often tee shirts get holes around the neck, arms, and hem, and the shirt gets thrown away even though most of the fabric is still usable.

Supplies:
Old tee shirt
Scissors
Size 7 knitting needles or size H crochet hook

1. Cut off the hem at the bottom edge of the shirt, at the edge of the sleeves and around the neck. Cut off the seams that connect the sleeves to the body of the shirt, the seams at the sides of the shirt, the seams at the shoulders and the seams across the sleeves. There should now be four flat pieces of cloth which used to be the front of the shirt, the back of the shirt, the left sleeve and the right sleeve.

2. Starting on the sleeves and then the body of the shirt, cut around the piece of cloth in a spiral about 3/8in from the edge to form a continuous strip of cloth similar to yarn. (I suggest winding the yarn into a ball as you go so that it does not get tangled.) When you are done with cutting one piece of cloth, tie the end of one piece of yarn to the start of the next piece of yarn.

3. (For knit) Using the tee-shirt yarn cast on 30 stitches. Knit as many rows as are needed to make the dishcloth square, slipping the first stitch of each row to form a smooth edge. Cast off and weave in ends.

4. (For crochet) Using the tee-shirt yarn chain 30. Using half-double crochet work as many rows as are needed to make the dishcloth square. End and weave in ends.

5. Wash the dishcloth before using. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. If you DO NOT wash it, the dishes will end up getting covered with pieces of fuzz from the yarn.

6. Use the new dishcloth to wash your dishes. The texture formed by working knit on all rows, or by using half-double crochet instead of single crochet gives the dishcloth a texture that is very good for scrubbing.

Lauren Ashley

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

On Tuesday my family decided to work on sewing projects. Mom worked on drafting a pattern for a gored skirt, my brother Pierce (11 years old) learned how to use the sewing machine for his quilt, my brother Thomas (13 years old) finished sewing the sail for his model catamaran ship, my sister Zoe (6 years old) started some lavendar filled sachets and I made a Bebe Au Lait style nursing cover for one of our friends. After I finished making the Bebe Au Lait I started cutting out the pieces for pouches that can attach to a belt for Thomas, Pierce and I. We had been waiting for some books at the library to come in, but we finally couldn't stand it anymore and just went to the library to find the books ourselves. We meant to just pick up the one book that was in hold and lookaround  for a little while, but ended up coming bak with 14 books on cooking and sewing. I would recomend getting the book Sew What! Skirts. It shows how to draft a skirt pattern just using your measurments. Mom and I are planning to make another skirt for each of us before our trip to Mississippi at the end of this month.

I am hoping to write a series on how to sew and knit with recycled materials (after we get a camera). As a sneak peek, one of the projects will be How to turn a tee shirt into a dish cloth.

Lauren